Q STOOL

designed for VITEO

"When I started to do interiors, I soon discovered that the market didn’t always offer what I was looking for. The Australian market was small, and there were few producers, while foreign furniture was rare and expensive, because of the transport and duty costs. And anyway: I’ve never wanted to be just a stylist living on other people’s ideas. Australia has a lot of backyard industries working on a small scale, something that is much harder to find in Europe. The Q stool obtained its name from the Q bar in Sydney, for which it was originally designed. Its form was almost exclusively defined by the desire to create a piece of furniture that would be practical, solid and innovative – of use in lounges and other public spaces. It is in one piece and has no backrest, allowing the user to turn smoothly on its axis. The structure doesn’t have any mechanical joints, which enhances its solidness. Low to the ground, it’s an easy seat to carry around. You simply have to put your hand in the hole and pick it up. But above all, it’s safe and practically harmless, which is not without importance in nightclubs. It’s only later that you discover that a design like this has stylistically a lot in common with the rest of your work. In this case, the production technique of the Q stool is close to that of the Burdekin barstool, and based on what I would like to describe as a ‘circular construction principle’. The inside consists of injection-moulded foam, supported by a steel tube. It’s built around a hollow form. Because of this hole, many think it is an uncomfortable piece of furniture. But it’s rather the contrary. You only need a support for both buttocks when you sit, not the whole surface. Of course, its design reminds people of a toilet, so it makes them laugh. But that’s ok for me. As long as there is interaction, you have achieved a lot. Over the years, I created several limited editions, but it would take until 2005 before the Austrian manufacturer Viteo made it part of its collection, and we turned it into outdoor furniture."